Neon Genesis Evangelion: Moscow 2
by Kazegen
Summary: The people who run NERV's fourth branch are just as screwed up as the people who run its first. Join Oliver Morton as he tries to figure out the secret behind the attacks on Moscow-2. AU, OCs everywhere. Original Flavor fic.
1. Carcass of Metal, Flesh and Flame

Welcome to Neon Genesis Evangelion: Moscow-2! Be warned, this is AU and has an entirely different cast than the original story! This story is here to establish a different viewpoint on the universe and the types of characters and satire that exist in this universe, and to craft a new story within the world of Evangelion! For those that can stomach that, read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, Gainax, or the Eva franchise. Hideaki Anno and Gainax own the Evangelion franchise. I do own my original characters though.

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><p>2 weeks after Sachiel attacks Tokyo-3...<p>

Alarms began to blare across the enormous tactical playground known as the Command Deck. With its huge 3-leveled command tower taking up most of the room, and projections and images covering the walls, it was justifiable for one of the most important places in the world to protect to have one of the most advanced protection systems available. From the Operation Director's point of view, everything necessary to make the smartest decisions possible was here. The second level of the deck was dedicated to battlefield analysis, with trained staff always on hand to give important data to the higher-ups. Finally, on the last level of the command tower was the MAGI-04, the most advanced computer system known to man. Coincidentally, the MAGI system assigned to this base carried the same number designation as the base, 04. The MAGI always lived up to their reputation of being able to analyze any piece of information instantly, which was very helpful in situations like now.

"Sir! The MAGI have analyzed that AT Field we saw near Reutov! It's Pattern Blue!" A man with long bangs shouted from his chair on the lower deck."It's an Angel, sir!"

"It's attacking just like Sachiel did in Tokyo-3?" The man in charge pushed his orange-hued glasses up with his thumb. "What have we got on the ground, Rurik?"

"We haven't got many reports in yet, sir! We just weren't ready!"

"Turrets are offline! Engineers are working on it!"

A small chuckle came from a petite woman with short pink hair, wearing a stark white lab coat which cascaded on the ground around her. Her size suggested that she was 12, but the demeanor she carried and the pride she wore on her sleeves quickly rectified the misconception one might get from the sheer height difference the two exhibited side by side. In fact, she seemed to have a taller presence than anyone here, even the man she stood next to. She wore a look of discontent as she scolded her subordinate. "We were poorly prepared, Yuri. How does this reflect on the vigil of our staff?"

"Beatings are being prepared, Commander." A smirk grew on his face.

A sigh echoed from the tiny figure. "Sometimes I can't tell whether or not you're serious. I suspect you have at least gathered the Fifth Child?"

"You know that I at least have that many brain cells, Commander." A small blip on the projection in front of him confirmed that the Child was on his way.

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><p>Oliver was uncomfortable, although he tried his best not to show it. He often said that he loved being surrounded by women, but these suit and black glasses types were not how he liked them.<p>

"So ladies, seen anything interesting lately?" A silence echoed through the car. One of them glanced out the window, then returned to staring at the boy. It was a limo, with a black interior and lots of legroom. His wavy brown hair was short and unkempt, just like he liked it. He could see the driver on the other side of the open window, who looked a bit panicked. His medium build filled the seat he was in, and his Packers tee-shirt was a bit of a loose fit. They were driving a bit fast though, even considering that they were on a highway.

Suddenly, an explosion rattled the windows of the vehicle, and it fishtailed briefly before the driver regained control. "What the hell?" Oliver cried as he gripped the seat as best he could. A crash resounded from just behind them, and he snapped his head to look out the back window. The eviscerated tail of a VTOL had slammed into the gray concrete, flattening a few other cars, and the section of highway that was hit immediately collapsed in a ball of flame.

"Hey, shouldn't we stop to see if they're okay-" His remark trailed off into a groan as his eyes caught something that shouldn't exist. A behemoth brown boulder was floating through the air slowly, with two stony tentacles sagging alongside it. It seemed unconcerned with the buzzing flies around it, peppering it with annoying sparks. One of those elongated arms slashed another VTOL, ripping it to shreds as as if it was splitting wet toilet paper.

"What the fuck is that?" Oliver shouted at the expressionless women. They said nothing, and there seemed to be no reaction to the battle raging around them. Didn't they care that those people were being exterminated?

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><p>"Squadron Alpha just got taken out, sir! They can't dodge those arms!" The blonde woman boomed across the command deck. "The Angel is advancing sir! It will get here in 15 minutes!"<p>

"Tank Squadron 3 is requesting backup!"

"Send in Squadron 2 to act as a distraction! See if you can bombard the thing!" The man with the sunglasses known as Yuri opened a channel to Squadron 3.

A scream came in over the loudspeaker, distorted and crackling. "Command! The thing's right over us! Requesting backup, now! It's over us!"

"Hold it together, Squad 3! Begin bombardment, and aim for the mask!"

"It's- it's looking at us! RETRE-" Static cut him off, as the man with the long bangs cut off the channel. "Squadron 3 has been annihilated, sir! We're being destroyed- where is that pilot!"

"Tank Squadrons 1, 2 and 4, hit the Angel with everything you have!" Yuri shouted over the general channel. All at once a tremendous BOOM shook the landscape as all of the tank squadrons fired on the Angel. Hundreds of explosions obscured the Angel from view, the sheer force of the shock-wave shattering the windows of a nearby skyscraper. For a few seconds, the command deck went silent, and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. When the fire died down however, the Angel was still there.

"How the hell is this thing still alive?" Yuri called out to the blonde woman on his left. "Get the VTOL squadron closer, so we can keep an eye on it!"

The Angel turned to its right, and the sinister depths of its eyes shone with a divine light. Instantly the ground lit up underneath another tank squadron, casting an eerie pink light. A gigantic red cross burst into view and lit the sky ablaze, tinting the hill behind it with a crimson light. An entire city block of about half a kilometer had been reduced to little more than a smoking crater. Needless to say, the signals of the entire squadron had gone cold and none of the tanks had made it out in one piece.

"The entire Belorusskaya province has been wiped out, sir! We lost a quarter of the financial district! Collateral damage is through the roof!"

"Conventional forces won't do anything against it, Yuri. You know that." The miniscule figure besides Yuri glanced up at him. "Those guns are firecrackers to it. The best we can do is delay it." She strode up to the edge of the deck, and yelled down to the analysts. "Try to redirect it to the Sukarevskaya district! We can reduce casualties that way!" Her voice carried far, and her words had a visual impact on the two below. "Do we have any other options, Operations Director?" She glanced up at him, and saw a frustrated scowl meeting her calm demeanor.

"We've got to get that pilot! I'm going myself!" Yuri slammed his fist down on the desk, and stormed away to a nearby elevator, sweat dripping down his brow.

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><p>"Did a cross just blow up an entire city block? Please tell me I'm not seeing things!" Oliver shouted in the car, pleading with the two agents. His heart was racing, and his head was abuzz with terror.<p>

"Where are we even going? You two haven't said anything this entire trip!" Tears began to form at the edges of Oliver's eyes. "What the hell is going on?" A sharp BOOM resounded, and Oliver turned to see at least 20 tanks driving behind them, their barrels still smoking from their barrage.

"Hey, w-why is the ground starting to get all pink?" Oliver's voice began to shake. In a flash, the two women had covered his body with theirs, lowering him into the fetal position. Oliver blushed. "Ladies, I appreciate the attention, but-"

Then the car flew through the air, and all Oliver heard before he fell unconscious was the screams of two women.

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><p><strong>I AM THE ANGEL OF NEW BEGINNINGS.<strong>

** ALL COME TO ME, TO BE REBORN IN FIRE AND FLAME.**

** YOU WHO IMITATE THE GLORY OF HIM, FEEL FEAR.**

** FOR I AM HERE, AND MY NAME IS GAZARDIEL.**

** I AM.**

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><p>The ground shook, and Oliver twitched. He felt warm, and at the same time chilled to the bone. The world caught fire as his eyelids slid apart, and he covered his face with his hands to block the pain. As his eyes adjusted, the first thing he caught sight of was the flying boulder. For the first time, he noticed the mask on its surface, a small teardrop with two holes in it, like a mockery of a human face, plastered onto it's surface like a sticker.<p>

"Wha-" His memory caught up with him. More explosions rocked the boulder, but it kept on drifting lazily towards its destination. Oliver then realized the immense weight on him, and struggled to release himself. Eventually he wormed his way out of whatever he was stuck in, and he got to his feet, staring at the boulder. Tears stood frozen on his face.

"You!" He whipped around to face the desperate voice calling out to him. "You are Oliver Morton, right?" A man with a scruffy beard and ruffled brown hair ran up to him, surrounded by men wearing the same outfit that the women that picked him up were wearing. He was breathing heavily, and rested on his knees as he stared into the boy's eyes.

"Y-you have to help me, I don't know where I am and-"

"OLIVER MORTON!" The man shook him, glaring fiercely at him through his amber sunglasses.

It was all Oliver could do to nod, and at once the men grabbed him and began to run. He was almost dragged, and he could barely keep up. In a sudden flash of memory Oliver remembered what had happened before the explosion, and he looked back for the first time at what he had crawled out of. A twisted, mangled ball of steel was all that was left of the large limo they had traveled in, and gore covered the charred steel. He could almost make out a human face in a ball of sinew and muscle. Then, he was led into a building, and the carcass of metal, flesh and flame could no longer be seen.

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><p>He was lead into a boxy elevator, which was illuminated by only a dinky light-bulb, covered with cobwebs. Dirty windows covered every wall, and brass handles were attached to the corners. Oliver was strapped into a seat near the door, which slammed shut when the last man had gotten in. The elevator was absolutely stuffed, with men crammed into every possible crevice.<p>

"Hold on!" The man with the sunglasses yelled. Then, with a jerk the elevator shot off downwards, and Oliver began to understand why the lucky ones had a death grip on any handle they could find. It felt almost like one of the roller-coasters he had ridden back home, and the same feeling of weightlessness shocked him. The agents' feet barely touched the floor as the windows were lit up with a picturesque landscape. Golden waves of grain blew across what looked to be a farm, with a forest surrounding it. Oliver barely had time to gawk though as metal layers and shadows quickly replaced the scenery. It reminded him of the view from the car of a subway train.

Finally the elevator crashed to a stop, and several groans could be heard among the less fortunate members of the entourage. Some of them were knocked onto their behinds, and the sight of these gentlemen in suits rubbing their asses as they got up was almost amusing. Oliver found that fear replaced the laughter that would have come.

"Deal with it, you cowards!" Oliver was quickly unbuckled, and shoved outside the elevator. The sunglasses man grabbed him again, and he was led as fast as possible to an extremely large room.

"Oliver! We need to you pilot this!" The man pointed to something, and Oliver's eyes followed the grand sweep of his arm.

The first thing Oliver noticed was the sheer brightness of the orange that covered its surface, like a traffic cone. Its head was wide, almost like a whale, with small slits on both sides of the block-like head. A restraint that looked like a jaw covered the bottom half of its head, which concealed a thick neck. He could only see down to the chest, covered with heavy iron plates. Dark blue lines intersected the entire body, creating an almost artistic contrast. Its shoulders were embedded in the wall, and tons of words in a language he didn't know covered the walls. Klaxons shouted and rotating red lights covered the ceiling.

"We need you to come this way, so we can get you into the entry plug-" The man began to lead Oliver down a catwalk, but he violently shook the man off, glaring into his own reflection in those orange sunglasses.

"FUCK YOU, " he shouted, tears in his eyes and his hands shaking incessantly. "I'm not getting in that thing! I've been lead around all of today, and nobody will explain anything to me! The car I took here exploded, and those women in the car with me died! I saw their guts in that wreck! On top of that, there's a giant fucking rock in the sky and there's crosses everywhere and I'M NOT GETTING IN THAT THING UNTIL SOMEBODY TELLS ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!"

"THOSE WOMEN DIED TO GET YOU HERE YOU BRAT!" The man screamed at the boy, who visibly shook at the words. "Hundreds died to make sure you could get here safely, and every second we spend here with you not in that entry plug wastes those lives! We can explain everything later, just get in that-"

"THIS is the Evangelion Unit 05! This is mankind's last hope against the Angels, who will destroy the world if they get to our base!" A small woman with pink hair shouted at Oliver from a balcony overlooking the catwalk. "You are the only person that can pilot this machine, the Bringer of Good News, the Evangelion!"

"Commander!" The man glared at the woman. "We don't have time for this-"

"Shush Yuri, I'm being awesome right now." She smiled softly at the boy. "Your job is to get into this machine and destroy the Angel, who is right now trying to get into this base and eradicate humanity! With its limitless power and unbreakable steel armor, there is no way you cannot win!"

Oliver paused, his head hung. Disconnected from reality, he noticed that he was absolutely covered in blood. It felt cold.

"I can't lose, right?" He said slowly. "If I win, this day will end, right?" His voice cracked. Sweat poured down his face.

"I assure you, I made this machine. Therefore, it is invincible. Destroying the Angel will bring you praise and peace! So, destroy this Angel with your iron will, and bring humanity's wrath onto that being!"

"I-" He froze. He was shaking violently, the day's events burning in his mind's eye. The alien rock in the sky. The blood-red cross bisecting the sky. The mangled corpses of the women that protected him. He felt something snap within him. He was sure it was his sanity. The last thing that flashed through his mind was his father, screaming at him. "_YOU MUST WIN!"_

"Let's get this over with."

"Repeat that." The commander's smirk grew larger.

"I will pilot Evangelion Unit 05!" The boy shouted at the woman staring down at him, tears and sweat mingling on his scowling face.

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><p>He was led to what looked like a giant metal tampon, which slid open after a worker had typed in a command on a glowing console.<p>

"I need to put these in your hair." The man with glasses tried to clip gold hair clips onto his skull, but Oliver snatched them from him before he could touch him. "I can do it." The man retreated, and Oliver snapped the two clips into place. Then, he was stood in front of the lily-white entry plug. He was forced in, and immediately he felt uncomfortable in the seat. The lid was shut, and he cried out.

"Hey, it's really dark in here!" He couldn't see a thing, but as soon as he said this the lights turned on. Glancing around, he saw that he was surrounded by sheet metal, which reflected his terrified gaze.

"It's cramped in here! Hey, are these handles?" The pilot's questions echoed through the command deck, as swarms of people all flew by each other in a hive of activity.

"We've hit 90% losses sir! We have to retreat!" The final tank squadron's commander's voice boomed over the loudspeaker, cutting off the pilot.

"That's fine, take Tverskaya Street and retreat past the bridge!" Yuri quickly switched to the other channel. "Just focus on calming down right now, Oliver."

"Easy for you to say." The camera inside the entry plug showed Oliver taking deep breaths, with his eyes closed.

"What's the situation on the ground, Violet?" The Operations Director called down to the blonde woman.

"Squadron 4 has retreated onto the bridge sir! The Angel is advancing, and is now passing over Tverskaya Street!"

"Alright, then we'll put him up by the Koitso launch port. Initiate psychosomatic integration!"

"Filling the entry plug." Rurik repeated to the pilot as he rapidly tapped on the keyboard.

"Say what?" Oliver had managed to calm down a bit, but he was still shaking. Then, orange liquid began to cover him, filling the container from his ankles up. It rapidly overtook him, and he held his breath.

"It's fine, Oliver! You can breath this stuff!" Yuri reassured him. He kept on holding his breath, but at last he reached his breaking point and his lungs filled with the orange liquid. Strangely enough, it felt like he didn't need to breath at all.

"This is disgusting. I feel so weird right now." Oliver's comments were ignored. Then, several people began to speak at once, and he caught small snippets like "Main power connected" and "Secondary contacts initiated." The orange liquid then turned clear, and Oliver blinked rapidly to make sure his eyes were working. Unfortunately they were, as when another person said "A10 nerve connections all good," rainbows and sparkles and crazy things started flashing across his eyes.

"What are you people doing to me?" He shouted.

"It's fine, Oliver. We're just making sure the connections work." Then, the light-show stopped, and he saw the catwalk he was once standing on. There were a few blind spots, but he could see alright.

"Woah! I'm really high up!" The command deck was still abuzz, and a graph that looked like a helix flashed across Yuri's screen.

"Synch Ratio is 48.3 percent, sir. Goddamn..." The blonde woman trailed off, astonished. The kid hadn't even been in the damned thing for five minutes yet, and he still had a better synch ratio than the other one. "Good enough to launch!" Yuri commanded.

Oliver jerked forward, as his Eva moved backwards and up. Suddenly, it stopped. He looked up, and saw an elevator shaft stretching into darkness. "Hey, you guys aren't going to-"

"Eva Provisional Unit 05, Launch!"

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><p>It was all he could do to resist the Gs from the trip upward. It reminded him of the elevator ride down, but in reverse. He could barely look up, and a roar was obscuring all other noise. Then, a light shined down from above, and he shot through an opening, slamming to a stop. His head jerked upward, then slouched.<p>

"How do I move this thing?" Oliver shook the controls, but the Eva stood still.

"Just walk, Oliver. Remember how you felt when you were a child, trying to walk." Yuri spoke softly to him over the radio. "Left foot, right foot, left foot, right."

"Okay." Oliver concentrated on moving his feet, and immediately he felt strange. His feet weren't moving, but _his_ feet were. Left, right, left, right.

"Just like then, huh?" He remembered his football camp, training his endurance by running in place as fast as he could.

"Find some cover, Oliver!" His head snapped upward, and met the Angel's mask. He felt like it was staring into his soul. It began to shake, and the entire street around him exploded. Oliver jumped backwards on reflex, and the Eva followed. However he did not quite have complete control yet, and he tumbled end over end finishing with him lying face-up.

"Fuck! What just happened?" Oliver stood back up, and was slammed back into the ground by the colossal rock. Its face met his, and he felt an infinitesimal amount of the cold, utter hatred it felt for him at that moment.

"Oliver! Get out of there!" He couldn't move. Its stony gaze had him trapped. He was too scared to even cry, or shout or anything. He just sat there. The Angel lifted its enormous right arm, which shook and split apart with a fleshy tearing noise. A horrible, twisted blade erupted out of its "hand" and glinted against the sunlight.

"OLIVER! RUN-" He raised his arm to block the blow and it was raked with the blade, chunks of red flesh sent flying as the blade ripped out muscles. Oliver felt a horrible pain in his arm, and gripped it tightly as he screamed.

"Why does it hurt? WHY DOES IT HURT?" Oliver shrieked as he curled himself into a ball. His arm felt like it had been ripped apart, just like his Eva.

"His synch ratio- It went up! It's at 75% now, sir!" The blonde woman analyzed the graph in front of her. Why did pain increase the Synch Ratio?

"Vitals are dropping, sir! He's too scared to move!"

"Inject him with stimulants! He's all we've got!"

Oliver felt a prick in his left arm, but was too distracted by the mind-numbing pain in his right arm. Slowly however it went away, replaced by an all-consuming rage. The pain felt distant, and the fear went away.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The Eva shoved the boulder off of him, and kicked it down the street with a huge CRACK. Oliver felt horrible pain in his foot, but was too enraged to notice. He bellowed a guttural war-cry as his Eva stood defiant against the Angel. The air around the Evangelion shivered, and Oliver felt a wall appear in front of him.

"AT Field has been spread, sir! Current status is Strong!"

"The Eva must have felt his anger and created the AT Field. There's no way it could spread an AT Field on its own." Yuri pushed his glasses up with his thumb again.

"Send the Hammer to him." Violet input a command into the computer.

Oliver had stopped shouting when he heard a SHUNK behind him. A nearby building deconstructed itself and revealed a gigantic hammer. He took it immediately with his one good arm. Then, he felt a strange aura emanate from underneath him. The ground began to glow pink, like when the cross materialized. At once he dodged backwards out of the way, and a set of orange hexagons appeared underneath him, deflecting the cross into a nearby building.

He charged forward around the cross, leaping over a set of buildings onto the rising Angel. Swinging his hammer with his left arm, he impacted the side of the Angel, throwing chunks of rock into the street. A small rope of flesh ending in a ball fell out of the hole left by the impact.

"Vestigial legs?" The small woman began to think. "So the Angels evolve over time..."

The air around the Angel shimmered, and nearby buildings seemed to rip themselves apart as the air itself became Oliver's enemy. However he simply raised his hand, and more orange hexagons appeared to defend him. Hundreds of scratches appeared on the surface of his shield, but it held strong. He felt a pressure in his head, but the rage shoved that to the back of his mind.

Then, the Angel's eyes flashed, and his shield of light disappeared. Its arm whipped upwards, creating a gigantic dent in the Eva's armor. Oliver immediately drew back, stunned by the pain overcoming his anger. Finally, the Angel used all of its strength to thrust at the same spot, breaking through the armor and the flesh. The entirety of the granite arm could be seen sticking through the Eva, covered in blood. The brown of the rock and the red of the blood mixed to make a maroon ichor that stained the street.

Oliver stopped. All of the rage and fear that he had felt before had vanished, replaced with numbness. The minute trembling was gone as well. He could barely think, and the thoughts that came through were primal, only concerned with survival. He slowly lowered his head, and stared at his chest. He tried to lift his shirt to see if the flesh was still there, but his left hand would not move from the horrible gash on his right arm. His brain faintly registered that his arm and chest were indeed there, but they felt like they were gone. He couldn't feel his chest, or his arm, like all the nerves in them had been cut. All he could feel before a massive darkness closed on his brain was a horrible, deathly chill.

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><p>"Goddamn it, get that kid awake!" Yuri inputted commands into the computer furiously. Through the entry plug's camera, Oliver's body convulsed as a shock was sent through his body. However, he did not stir.<p>

"Damn it, send the ejection signal!" He watched as an error popped up on Rurik's screen, who whipped around.

"Sir, the signal was rejected! The plug won't eject!"

Then, the Angel raised its atrocious silver blade, and split open the left arm from the shoulder, destroying the wing of the Eva. The bloody hammer skittered across the concrete before embedding itself in a nearby building, and the left arm of the Eva was almost split in two.

"Sir! Should we call in a N2 strike?" Yuri froze. It was viable, but the collateral and political fallout would be tremendous. His first operation, and the city reduced to dust? What could he do?

"OLIVER!"

"USELESS." A deep and powerful voice rang out in Oliver's mind, and he jerked awake. He felt no pain, and he found himself staring the Angel in the face again. He felt... angry.

The Angel swung again, this time for the head. It was the heaviest blow yet, and would surely reduce the Eva's head to pulp.

The Evangelion's eyes flashed a bright yellow, and in a flash of motion the Eva caught the blow effortlessly. It slowly rose, cracking the earthy appendage as it glared at the Angel. A small screw connecting the two pieces of jaw armor shattered, and the Evangelion sounded a fleshy bellow, blowing hot steam and flecks of spit into the Angel's face. It pulled back its arm, and threw the Angel down the street, impacting a building which crumbled under the enormous weight. Once again the Eva screamed, and charged, picking up the hammer. The arms, which were unusable before, twisted and squirmed and squelched, making new arms that looked disturbingly human.

"Just like in Tokyo-3, huh?" The short woman commented in the Command Deck. "We'll have to compare data with that Ritsuko person. Disgusting woman, really. But as long as the data's good..." The woman turned to leave.

"Where are you going, Charlotte?" Yuri asked the woman, who turned to glance at him.

"We've won, haven't we?"

The Evangelion roared, and swept the hammer overhead into the Angel, rupturing the thick armor and revealing a pulsating reddish core. Crimson blood flew, staining the orange Eva and covering the street. The Angel's eyes began to glow again, and an orb of electricity came from its mask, throwing small branched bolts of energy like lightning.

"Sir! The Jeans instability threshold has been reached! A protostar has been formed!" Violet watched the temperature of the star rise from 500 K to over 3000 in under 3 seconds.

The Angel pushed the Eva off of it with a weak AT Field, and rose to the Evangelion's height. The small star grew into a large one, becoming the size of its creator.. It became red and shot fiery arcs across its beating surface. Small cars and debris rose into the sun and were absorbed with a small puff of smoke. The berserk Eva's armor began to singe, and turn black. Then the air shimmered, and the newly made sun was pushed towards the Eva. However, the Eva roared once more, and its eyes flashed once again. The Eva raised its hands, and the sun stopped just short of it, after slowing to a stop. The AT Field took the brunt of the heat, but the Eva's armor still burned crimson black from the convection. Fortunately, the heat was the last thing on its mind.

"The AT Field's Positron signature is inversing itself! Velocity is reversing!" The Evangelion appeared to hold the sun, grunting in satisfaction, drool coming from its hanging jaw. Finally, the sun reversed its direction and sped straight at the Angel. Passing through the AT Field and connecting with its owner the sun burst on the Angel, blowing away the cosmic invader.

A huge cross appeared, blotting out the sun, consuming the berserk Evangelion. As a sort of irony, a rainbow appeared as blood rained on the victor.

As the cross faded, the last image broadcast of the battle was the Eva, staring up into the sun with hungry eyes, it's orange armor covered in blood and singed to a crisp.

* * *

><p>So, there's the first chapter of the story! It took me about 3 days to make, and I really had a lot of fun with it. This is based off of a roleplaying session of Adeptus Evangelion that me and my buddy played while we were trying to find more players. His face when I told him that a STAR was being fired at him was priceless, then he said, "Can I make a Ballistics test to reflect it?" He got a 1. On a d100. So, this happened, and it was absolutely badass.<p>

This chapter is also dedicated to the hundreds of Evangelion fanfiction that immediately make Shinji into a badass that doesn't give a fuck before meeting his first Angel. You know, the "dude look a robot sweet" kind. Goddamn it, if you were 15 or 16 and you got shoved into a giant robot, I'd bet the majority of you would piss your pants too. True bravery is getting into that cockpit KNOWING you're going to piss your pants and get your ass kicked.

I'm hoping that this story will maintain the general TONE of the original series, but maybe I can add in some things to the setting and make some twists that weren't in the original. You know, normal stuff.

By the way, this does not take place in the Rebuild storyline. This is AU, but the base storyline is the original TV series.

By the way, read and review if you've got the time! I don't know what I'm doing wrong if you don't tell me!


	2. Mr Egotistical

Before I begin, I'd like to say something that I'm sure all writers have experienced throughout the entire history of writing.

Looking at that blank page is intimidating. You can never find a place to start. But as I learned as I wrote this chapter, just writing will help. Even if it's something insignificant like an author's note, simply writing can fill up that blank page and help you to get over that intimidation.

So without further ado: the second chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Moscow 2!

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><p>One thing that can be said about Evangelions are that they are expensive. When people say that building, piloting and repairing a single Evangelion after a battle bankrupts several small countries, they are not kidding. On the news, all that the engineers had heard about was the Angel attack, and that the economic depression in Algeria had worsened. The country was bound to collapse soon, the reporters had said, and Jim had no reason to believe otherwise. On the requisition sheets he had read for the replacement parts of Unit 05, there were so many zeroes that his eyes began to hurt. His coworkers had talked about some kind of strange effect on the mind, where if you read a word too many times, it becomes alien, and your brain stops recognizing it. Jim had thought about that when he read the repair bill.<p>

Jim had been imported from America to work at NERV-04, because they didn't have enough engineers with enough knowledge to repair the Evangelion. The same could be said of all of the staff positions, half of which were held by foreigners. The repair team that was working on the right arm was from China, and Jim was starting to understand a modicum of Chinese. Even on his own team there were two people from Japan, Takeshi and Minori. Hell, the kid piloting the Evangelion was from America, just like Jim. Of course, this created a hellhole in cross-team communication, so each team had a translator with them to smooth over teamwork. The translators were really talented, Jim had to admit. Each of them knew at least 5 languages fluently, and another one of his coworkers was being tutored by their translator in Japanese. Jim had to wonder, how much did these people cost to hire?

In fact, how did NERV get all this money in the first place? It was a UN run operation, and they had access to most of the money in the world. But you had to consider that the people wouldn't just _give_ others their money, when Second Impact had made most people into hoarders. Did the UN really redirect funds that would have gone to helping people in third-world countries? Were one hundred thousand people really starving and dying just to pay for this plate he was helping to weld onto the chest?

The sparks flew by his face, protected by the welding mask he wore. They flew down into the liquid bakelite below, heated to nearly 150 degrees Celsius, making a small poof of smoke. It could get quite hot in the repair bays, and Jim frequently had to take off his mask to wipe the steam off of the visor. This time when he took off the mask, he took a two second break to look around. A spider's web of catwalks and ropes surrounded him, filled by people of all ethnicities. The sheer amount of people shocked him, packing the huge space they worked in. There had to be at least a hundred working on the chest alone. He wondered how many worked on just this one Evangelion.

"Hey Jim, have you heard what Huang from team 4b was saying?" A coworker of his from America rappelled down to him, touching down on the catwalk. "You know, the one that was working on repairing the muzzle?" Jim nodded. Even though he could understand a bit of Chinese, Huang still overwhelmed him.

"He said that he heard a voice in the cockpit. So he turned around, looking for somebody else. But there wasn't anybody. He was all alone in there."

"What'd it say?"

"He didn't understand it, so he talked to the translator, and so the translator talked to me."

"So what did he hear, then?"

"Just one word," he paused to look at the red liquid below."USELESS."

"Get back to work, you two!"

* * *

><p>Yuri looked over the expense report from the battle the day before. Overall, it wasn't too bad of a battle. Of course, Algeria would be footing the bill. It was too bad, but there was nothing to be done. A few had to die for the rest to live.<p>

Yuri slumped, feeling ashamed of himself. He shouldn't have yelled at Oliver. He could understand why he was afraid, but Yuri was just tense. After all, the car wreck was just...

He heaved, but managed to hold it back. The smell of burning flesh... All it reminded him of was that day.

He shook his head violently. There was no need to dwell in the past. For now, he just needed to apologize to the pilot. He got up from his chair, and walked out of his office. Traveling down the hallway, he came to a huge cargo elevator, the main mode of transportation within the base. It wasn't on his floor, so he pressed the button that called it. It came immediately. When the door opened up, a tall woman with glasses and a brown ponytail wearing a lab coat bowed. Yuri stepped onto the elevator.

"You don't have to do that, Professor." Yuri pressed the button to go to the 3rd basement. It was near the top of the base, the best place for a hospital. If you need to transfer any of the patients, it's a short ride out.

"I think it's important to be polite anyway. Sorry if I offended you." The woman dropped her head.

"I can't accept that apology, Professor. My manly spirit couldn't take it." Yuri flexed, holding his arms underneath his chest. Muscles appeared that weren't there before. It would be impressive, if it weren't so weird.

"Ah, I see..." She wasn't outgoing enough to tell him to stop.

"So, how is research progressing?" He spoke normally, while going through increasingly strange poses.

"Ah- you know that's classified..." She couldn't look at him. He was a pretty strange person when he wasn't in command in a force.

"I never said what the research was about, but how it was going." He had stopped, but his skin was glistening with sweat, creating the same sort of aura that he had when he was posing.

"It's going well, I suppose."

"That's good." Silence.

"So, did you know that the new episodes for Mahou Shoujo-"

"I don't watch that kind of stuff."

Again, silence. Then, the elevator door opened, and Yuri got off, pacing quickly down the white hallway.

"Does he hate me?" She said to herself quietly as the elevator doors closed on her.

* * *

><p>As Yuri entered the hospital room, he noted that the best word to describe it would be "sterile". There were no other patients, and nobody else besides Oliver, sitting in a lonesome bed, with a glow cast on him from the artificial sunset displayed on the window monitors. When the CLACK of Yuri's shoes echoed through the room, Oliver jumped and whipped around to stare at him, releasing a whimper. Then, he went back to staring out the window.<p>

"So, how are you feeling, Oliver?" Yuri drew closer to the bed. Oliver stayed silent, staring at the window.

"I said, how are you feeling, Oliver?" He looked over to see what Oliver was staring at. It was just a sunset over a picturesque hill, with nothing unique about it.

"I heard you." The boy turned to him, slowly. He had heavy bangs under his eyes, and his right arm was set in a cast. "I've been better."

"We can turn the picture into something else, you know. If you want to sleep, we can turn it into night." Yuri turned to the picture selector near the light switch, but was interrupted.

"No thanks, I wouldn't see the knives coming that way." Oliver's head fell deeper into the crevice between his legs.

"Knives? Did you say knives?"

"I had a bad dream, sir. I was stabbed, repeatedly. There was blood everywhere; it was not pleasant. Ever since then, whenever something happens, like when you walked in here, I think there's going to be a knife or I'm going to get stabbed or something. Hell, I'm just glad that the IV was put in while I was asleep, otherwise I would've pissed myself when they showed it to me." He had a forlorn look, and he returned to staring at the sunset.

"Is there anything I could bring you, like food? Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm not hungry. If you could leave me alone, that would be nice." Yuri knew this kind of thing. They don't actually want to be alone.

"How about I bring you my... manly spirit?" Yuri put his hands behind his head and puffed out his chest, etching body-builder muscles on his tight tee-shirt. Oliver withdrew, a shocked/disgusted look on his face.

"Could you stop doing that?" He said in a barely contained sigh.

"MY MANLY SPIRIT CAN NEVER BE WITHHELD!" A group of nurses drew close to the door, then scurried away when they saw this display. A small "He's doing it again" could be heard.

"No, stop that. You're going to make me throw up again." Oliver could scarcely hold his disgust.

"Oh, fine. I was just trying to cheer you up." Yuri slouched, and frowned pitifully. "I guess I'll just leave then." He turned to the door.

"There was a question I had for you." Oliver spoke up, and Yuri stopped.

"If that person that I met when I got into the Evangelion said that it was invincible, then why did it hurt when I got hit? Why do I have these injuries if I was never affected?"

"The Commander lied when she said that. The Evangelions are not invincible, far from it. However, they are the best bet we have against the Angels-"

"Why did it hurt, sir? If I didn't get hit, then why did my arm break itself?" Yuri got a concerned look on his face, and began to think.

"It's a part of the control system, Oliver. Your thoughts control the robot, but in exchange whenever the robot gets hit, so do you." Oliver considered this.

"Alright, I guess that works." He turned back towards the window, and shut up. Yuri began to leave again.

"If you need anything, just call for a nurse. She'll get it right away." Oliver didn't answer.

"You did a good job out there. You won." Yuri got to the door, when he heard a small reply.

"I lost that fight."

The door closed, and Yuri at once paced towards the science department, almost breaking into a run. His arm shouldn't have broken itself. Feedback doesn't work that way.

* * *

><p>A week later, Oliver was still afraid of knives, but managed to keep it under control. He still shivered at the sight of a sharpened blade, but he had stopped having hallucinations. He had been discharged from the hospital in the morning, and told that his first day of school was today. Currently, he was being driven there in a large limo, just like the one he had been driving in with those women. He tapped his right foot on the floor of the limo, dressed in a simple cherry tee-shirt and sweatpants, with a white stripe running down the outside of his right leg. An image of the burning wreck flashed through his head. He clenched his teeth and brought his arms close as a chill passed through him. "<em>I need to get that out of my head. I can't function if I keep thinking about that," <em>he thought. _"I need to focus on the now. I need to psych myself for my first day of school." _He slapped his cheeks, and the driver looked at him briefly in the back-view mirror. He couldn't wait to meet new people. The more he talks to new people, the less these memories will stay in his head.

As he arrived at his new school, he was surprised at how _new_ it looked. The grass was freshly mowed and the windows were spotless. He had heard that Russia was poor, but the school was fantastic. He could even see a huge athletic field in the back. He was excited to get in there and meet new people. He strolled into the big doors after the driver had instructed him to report to the principal's office. After passing by the large lockers near the front, he came to the principal's office, where he was escorted to his new classroom. Standing outside, he could hear the teacher announce a new student. He was called in, and slowly he walked in, chest puffed and back straight.

"Introduce yourself, please." The teacher stated.

"My name is Oliver Morton, and I come from America. I play football, and I like to wrestle as well. I'm a very friendly guy, more so to women," he winked at a group of girls, who smiled back, "and I look forward to learning with you all."

"Thank you Oliver. You may sit next to Alisa, in the back." The class exploded into chatter, and several people stared at him. He proceeded to the back of the class, and plopped himself down to a girl who hadn't looked at him at all, instead looking out the window. Trying to get her attention, he said, "Hi, what are you looking at?" She continued to stare out the window, so he said it again, louder this time. She still did not respond, her brown hair cascading down her back. Finally, he tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped, whipping around with a big smile on her face. "Yes?"

"My name is Oliver, and according to the teacher your name is Alisa. What are you looking at out there that is so interesting?" He noticed bruises on her right arm.

"I was looking at clouds, and I'm going to keep doing that now." She turned back around, and continued to stare out the window, sunlight shining on her small face.

"Why are clouds so interesting? Shouldn't the new kid be more riveting?" He tapped her on the shoulder again, but she didn't turn.

"Mr. Ego, clouds are the best thing ever. They move when you aren't looking, they can be anything you want them to be, and they don't care who looks at them." She spoke quickly, like she was trying to get rid of him.

"Mr. Ego? What did I do to deserve such a cruel nickname from such a nice girl?" Despite his flirting, he disliked her. She didn't focus on the now, and she had just insulted him.

"You are less important than the clouds, but you think you are better than them. You keep trying to get my attention from them. If you want me to drop the nickname, just go away." Oliver frowned angrily.

"Excuse me, madame Head-in-Clouds. I'll stop bothering you now." He said sarcastically, then turned back to his desk. When he did, he found the rest of the class hovering over him, staring.

"Hello, how are all of you today?" Simultaneously, each of them exploded into questions upon questions, and Oliver tried to answer them all.

"Do you really play football?" "American football, yes."

"Where did you live in America?" "New D.C., the Neo City."

"How many girlfriends have you had?" "At least 7."

"Where are you living now?" "No idea."

"Do you want to be my best friend?" "I can be everyone's best friend."

Questions upon questions bombarded him, but eventually the teacher had enough and called them all back to their seats. He was happy to receive the attention, and delighted in the social web he had already created. He already had friends, lots of them. Except for her. He glanced at her, who was still staring out the window, unmoved from 10 minutes ago. It kind of pissed him off, but he didn't want to seem unstable to the rest of the class. He found that unlike in America, each person had a laptop in this class, so he opened his up and found to his delight that he had 13 new messages. He opened his inbox, and set to answering them all. They were mostly repeats of what others had asked from a few minutes ago, but one of them stopped him cold.

"do you pilot the giant robot y/n" stared at him. He wondered if it were classified, but shrugged. Being popular was more important anyway. He pressed the Y button, and at once the entire class turned around with excited looks, drilling into him with their eyes. The teacher kept droning on about Great Mother Russia or something for a few minutes before realizing that nobody was paying attention. Oliver had a huge smile on his face as the teacher scolded them all, and awaited the questions that would bombard him after class. This was his element. This and sports were where he shined. Here, he could just talk and forget everything bad that happened to him. The pressure and the pain.

* * *

><p>Finally, class ended and the crowd of classmates swarmed his desk again. This time, the questions were about the Evangelion, how it felt to pilot it, and what it was like to stand up to the Angel. He kept up a charming smile while mulling over the shocking memories in his head. He enjoyed the attention, but even so he felt as if these people had the wrong impression. Piloting was not something that was glorious or fun or anything of the sort. It was terrifying, and throughout that fight he had felt as if the raven of death were perched on his shoulder. He decided to tell the truth.<p>

"Look, piloting wasn't-" He began to explain, but a cute girl with nice breasts interrupted him.

"You were so cool, fighting off the scary monster!" Wait a minute, piloting the Evangelion would help him pick up chicks? Oh hell yes, he was going to hop on this bandwagon.

"Well, it was the support of the great staff at NERV that helped the most, but I suppose that my skill at piloting the Evangelion was what really defeated the Angel." he boasted. The crowd hung to his every word as he regaled them with tales of bashing the mighty hammer onto the angel's impenetrable body, like a blacksmith slamming into his finest sword. He could feel the warm rays of attention covering his starved body as he told his story. Then, he was startled as he heard a huge smack hit the desk, and everyone turned to see Alisa, glaring at Oliver like he had insulted her mother.

"Shut up Mister Egotistical, you're too loud. I can't hear the clouds talking." She picked up her bags and stormed out of the room, the eyes of her classmates following her out.

* * *

><p>"So what I'm saying is that you should join the Martial Arts Club, newfriend." A short boy with burning brown eyes and a heavy brow declared to him. He had confronted Oliver just as he had left the classroom, and had asked several probing questions about his latest physical and whether or not he could fight.<p>

"What makes you think I should join your club, shorty?" Oliver was already surrounded by friends, the beta males who would follow someone like him simply because they couldn't think for themselves.

"I think he's mad." He glanced at a taller boy to his right, who agreed with a small, "He mad."

"Look, I ain't mad. I just wanted to know why you guys want me in your club." Oliver was skeptical. This was his first club invite, and he wondered what the people around him thought of it.

"We slap each others shit, all day everyday. Through slapping each others shit, we find the core of our manly spirit, burning deep in our psyche." His eyes seemed to burn with every word, like he was speaking from his soul.

"You slap shit?" Did that mean what Oliver actually thought it meant? The taller boy stepped in.

"We spar, and train, and normal stuff like that. We thought you'd be a good member, cuz you pilot the giant robot and all. We'd teach you a few moves that'd save your ass in a pinch." The boy grinned, and Oliver wondered if everyone in this school thought that he'd be fighting human enemies like on Saturday morning cartoons.

"When do you guys meet?" Oliver looked back, and found that most of his followers approved of his decision. The leader was weird, but there were worse clubs to join.

"Everyday after school, though it's rare to see everyone at once." The taller boy explained. Oliver sighed, before putting on a smile.

"Alright, I can do that. Lead me to the room, and let's see what you guys have." Instantly the short boy screamed "FUCK YEAH" and ran down the hallway, whipping around a corner and leaping down the stairwell.

"He's overenthusiastic. Just follow me." Oliver trotted behind the tall boy, who led him down the stairs.

"My name's Nemo, but everyone calls me Nem. Nice to meet you Oliver." Oliver spoke a small "Likewise." and they went down a long hallway before stopping at the door to room 182. It looked huge.

"Be careful. The captain usually prepares something insane for new members, and you pilot a giant robot so he's probably going to go even more bonkers."

He opened the door to find something he truly was not expecting. All of the members of the club had made a human pyramid with the short guy on top, who was grimacing like he was constipated.

"Why do you have to do this, Opey? Why do you have to torture everyone else?" Nem shook his head, retreating to the corner of the room, while Oliver stood paralyzed at the bizarre sight.

"Shut up Nem! AND YOU, TRANSFER STUDENT! PREPARE YOUR ANUS!" The small man called Opey leaped from the top of the pyramid, executing a flying jump kick.

"I don't think so, kid!" Oliver simply shifted to the side, out of Opey's way. Opey stumbled as he hit the ground, and rolled into an aggressive stance.

"Cool story bro, but nobody expects Opey!" Opey jabbed at Oliver, who had to block with his good arm. Quickly he had to dodge a high kick, and he leaped back to the pyramid-turned pile of kids. Suddenly, another club member jumped out of the mound, fist cocked with a grin on his face. Glancing back, Oliver heard Opey shout, "Check them dubs, transfer student!" Of course all Oliver had to do is duck, and the two martial artists slammed into each other with a beautifully executed cross counter. Immediately they fell to the floor unconscious.

"Initiation's over guys. You can go back to training." Nem came in from the corner, clapping his hands and dismissing everyone. "Why does Opey always have to do the initiation in some weird way? Last time it was water balloons, and now he's screaming weird stuff and leaping off of people. I wonder if he's on meds or something." Oliver shook his head, bewildered. He was mute, having no idea what the hell just happened. "It's alright, man. The initiation does have a purpose, which is to find out what martial art would suit you best. You seem to move slightly and disrupt your opponents, so something like judo would be best for you. You have a lot of bulk, and judo involves using your opponent's weight against him, so I think you'd do well in that."

"So he's the passionate manly guy and you're the analytical type?" Oliver had barely broken a sweat dodging the two's attacks, and he found himself amused with the people in this club.

"No, he's crazy and I'm normal." Nem had gone into the storage closet to pick out a uniform for Oliver.

"I think I like you guys." Oliver followed him in, all the while wondering why he had been picked to pilot the Evangelion. It was what lead him to these guys, so it was special. What made him so good as to be picked to pilot a giant robot?

* * *

><p>"If you want to get technical about the name, they really aren't called Angels." The professor with long brown hair tied in a ponytail was talking to the commander. As with Yuri, the height difference between the two seemed comical, but the commander clearly had power over the professor. She had just asked if the situation with the cultists had calmed down, and the professor felt it was necessary to correct the commander on her error.<p>

"Only the enemies we fight in Tokyo-3 are to be called Angels. The enemies we fight here are called Nephilim. That's what SEELE calls these ones, anyway. Something about the rank of celestial standing or something. I would prefer if we didn't have such buzzwords for names, but that's not up to me." The professor could get passionate when talking about Nephilim. Already reports were coming in on the Nephilim's nuclear fusion process, and funding had been put into possible applications in Positron weaponry. However, that was a project for NERV-03, the China branch.

"The name we use doesn't matter, only that they are defeated." The commander strolled over to the professor's side of the desk, her head barely peaking over the mounds of paperwork covering the desk. "So, I understand that the situation was resolved? The ignorant people were taught their lesson?" The professor had no idea why she was put in charge of the operation instead of Yuri, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was to test the prototype in combat conditions.

"Yes, commander Natsuko. It was taken care of quickly and efficiently. However, the prototype took damage, and is now being repaired in Terminal Dogma."

"It took damage? You understand that this is unacceptable. We cannot replace the prototype, so any damage it might take might affect its performance later on." Natsuko's commanding voice shook the professor. She was truly a woman that could stand up to the commander of Tokyo-3, and had done so on several occasions.

"I will accept any punishment you may have for me." The professor did not expect to receive much punishment, but nevertheless steeled herself. Natsuko hesitated, looking off to the side for a second before continuing.

"Foolishness, professor. The fact that the prototype can stand up to real combat is amazing, considering it was only green-lighted 2 months ago. You've made remarkable progress. Just make sure that it is more protected from now on, and we'll have no problems." Natsuko smiled, strange for those that didn't know her. However, when you got to her core, she was quite motherly.

"Thank you ma'am. But, save the compliments for when I'm done. There are still hundreds of bugs to work out, like those pertaining to human interaction."

"We've carried on this unpleasant conversation for much too long. I have heard that your daughter was sent to NERV-02, in Nevada. She's a real prodigy, isn't she? I heard she got nearly 60% on her first synch ratio test." Natsuko had met the professor's daughter several times while she was staying at NERV-04. She really was brilliant, thinking of ways to use the Evangelion even before she was designated as the Fifth Child in the Marduk Report.

"She still hates me, you know. Not that any child wouldn't, after I-"

"Don't be so negative, professor Makinami. Your girl's a fine pilot, and I'm sure she'll make a fine woman when she grows up. You have so much time to reconcile with her, so just make sure she gets the most out of life while she's young." Natsuko knew of the rocky relationship Makinami had with her daughter, but tried not to interfere too much. It wasn't her business, but even so she couldn't stand to see her friend beat herself up. "In any case, I need to see to the repairs of Unit 05. See to it that you investigate why the Evangelion went berserk like Unit-01 in Japan." She strode out of the room on that note, hiding her regretful grimace, born from her small white lie.

* * *

><p>"Look, I can't come to club today. I've got this appointment with NERV, and I need to be there to pick up the VIP." Oliver had to beat the other guys off with a stick when they heard he couldn't make it to club, especially Opey. Oliver felt that the captain paid a bit too much attention to him, which must have been because of his status as the pilot of Evangelion Unit 05. This is what he had concluded over a month of training with them day after day. Initially it was tough trying to maneuver his large bulk in such a graceful way while still applying all the power his muscles could give him, but Nem had told him he had definitely improved.<p>

"You said you'd deliver the goods, man! You said you'd be there!" Opey was complaining, of course, and Nem was trying to calm him down.

"Sorry, but you know NERV takes top priority. It's my job, and you guys know about my bi-weekly synch tests. Imagine this as one of them, but for longer." Oliver thought back to his first synch ratio test. God that was uncomfortable, but after the second time he had gotten more used to the horrible smell that LCL made after you got out of the cockpit, not to mention the feel of it going down into your lungs. Oliver just couldn't get used to it. It was unnatural.

Finally Opey receded, his face a grim frown. "Okaaay," he groaned. "I guess we can let you go. But you better deliver next time."

"Yeah, alright. I'll see you guys later!" He shouted a goodbye to the rest of the member, who responded with a loud shout. He jogged up the stairs, passing Alisa, who was going up the stairs just like he was. Oh yeah, wasn't she going on this trip too?

"Didn't I hear somewhere that you were going on this visit to the harbor as well? You aren't a pilot, you don't even work at NERV, so why are you going?"

"My mom wants me to come. She wanted me to go, and it seemed to be a nice place to watch the waves, so I decided to tag along. Why does it matter to you?" She was still a tremendous pain to him, but he had learned to deal with Cloud-Bitch, as her nickname went.

"Your mom works at NERV?"

"Yes, she lives in the Geofront, and so do I. Again, why are you so interested in this? Aren't you supposed to be wrapped up in yourself and your little posse?" She always felt the need to make remarks whenever she talked to him.

"Well, I suppose it's not as good as being wrapped up by you." He considered her a challenge, the last frontier of unconquerable women. He could have whoever he picked from his followers, but what challenge would there be in that. Not that they didn't throw themselves at him constantly. It would be disturbing if it wasn't so pathetic, but it was a part of being popular.

He caught a small blush lighting her cheeks, before she barked a retort. "Not in a million years, football brain. I'll be staying as far away as possible from you."

"We ride in the same car, though. I can arrange it so we would be... alone." He threw out a suggestive grin. Eventually his pick-up lines would work.

"Good. Then there wouldn't be any witnesses when I beat you to death."

"You know I'm not into S&M, but maybe for you..." He simply loved how they bounced off of each other, like two horses jockeying for the lead position.

"Be quiet. Your ego is inflating past your limits." He was going to make another comment about something else inflating, but she had walked too far ahead for him to follow. He would just try again later. He was the womanizing king, so eventually she would fall before his feet. Surely she felt the same way about him, so it was only the question of whose will bent first. He was an Evangelion pilot, and her a simple student. Surely he would come out on top.

He had nearly forgotten the fear of death that came with piloting. They hadn't put him in a true simulation yet, only a synch ratio test, so he was beginning to become a bit egotistical. The same could be said for his entire personality, in fact. He pondered this fact as he entered his black sedan, the middle in a group of cars meant to protect him. This only stroked his ego more, and he imagined himself beating up another monster with ease, sweeping it with graceful kicks and breaking its back with a grand slam atop his knee. He almost didn't notice the car stopping in the harbor, where they would be picking up the VIP.

Exiting the door opened for him by another Section 2 agent, the grand scene of the seaport shone before him. There were people everywhere, milling about with boxes and cargo headed for different places. In particular a large group was concentrated around a huge ship almost the size of a carrier, covered with a huge tarp. He wondered what was under it, or why such a large ship was even visiting this harbor.

He was led to the foot of that ship, and up close it looked even more extraordinary. Its huge bulwarks stretched out for what seemed like miles, and the bridge between the deck and terra firma seemed like the stairway to heaven. Looking around, he could see that Cloud-Bitch had been lead to the deck before him, and he glowed with anger. Why did she get to go before him? Wasn't he more important then she was?

"Come on, time to meet the VIP." He signaled to the Section 2 agents behind him, who crowded around the foot of the bridge as he climbed for almost a minute straight. Of course a small walk like this could not tire him, but the gargantuan distance between him and the sea intimidated even him. As he arrived on the deck, he noted the shaking of the ship. He didn't have much love for the sea, and the few times he had stayed on a ship he always fell to seasickness. Not this time, he assured himself. He had an important first impression to make. Getting into the good graces of the VIP was his top priority.

Steadying himself on the rail, he walked to the group of people converged near the edge of the huge tarp. Through a temporary glance into the middle he could see a girl dressed in a long navy skirt, which extended down to her ankles. Besides that, her modest white turtleneck covered any assets she might have had, which disappointed Oliver. Surely she would flaunt anything she had? The mystery of this girl enticed him, and with that he approached the group, nestling himself next to Alisa, who retreated when she noticed his presence.

"Might I ask if the VIP is among us, gentlemen?" He figured getting to the point would make a good icebreaker.

"Right here, Oliver. This girl is the VIP we came for. We will be leaving in 10 minutes, so familiarize yourself with her until then." Within the short span of a month, the Section 2 agents had already learned his philandering habits. They didn't show disapproval however, so he figured they either didn't care or couldn't show it. Even in this kind of situation, they knew that he would hit on her either way, so they just left him to it.

"Surely this woman is not the VIP? I expected a bit more of a mature woman, from what everyone was talking about." He peeked at her, a smirk covering his face. Her dark green hair almost covered her maroon eyes, which unexpectedly had a shine to them. The others quickly made themselves scarce, perhaps on orders.

"Hey, just because I'm not mature doesn't mean that I can't be important. After all, I can take anyone I want to." Oliver was immediately delighted. Homely women were boring. He liked a spark in his girls, and he seemed to have found a goldmine.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, you don't seem to have much in the way of... assets." He had to time his words perfectly to test her. Any word could be twisted in the right context, especially ones with a dirty background.

"I find that mystery works on men better than just revealing yourself. It keeps out the ones that don't deserve the ample features I have underneath all this." She was engaging him in a battle of smirks. This could not stand.

"Then perhaps we could test out that assumption later tonight? I mean, if you aren't too scared."

"We'll see who the more intimidated one is later, lover boy." This girl wasn't the kind of reflecting conversationalist like Alisa was. She took what you dished out, and gave it back with more. He couldn't ask for a better girl.

"It's been five minutes, and you're already hitting on your coworker, Oliver? That's the kind of manly spirit I expect from you!" Yuri had appeared, posing in a muscleman stretch, abs and pecs stretched to their limit in his skintight shirt. The VIP immediately began to laugh hysterically.

"That's Yuri, the Operations Director at NERV-04. He does this constantly, and you'll just have to get used to it." Oliver introduced his strange commander, and then something clicked in his brain.

"Wait, you said that she would be my coworker?" The girl grinned in victory.

"Of course, lover boy!" The wind kicked up, catching the deep blue tarp. One of the ropes snapped, and revealed just a small portion of its contents, but even that brief look was enough to make obvious that secret.

Its splotched blue paint job covered its huge chassis, shining in the harsh sunlight. Its small shoulders and lithe frame fit well within the cargo bay as it lay with its face twisted to rest on the floor. Its streamlined head ending in two points on the back was almost like a bluejay, with its huge jaw covering its lower head. Its shoulder wings were strangely large, suggesting a bigger cargo than what usually fit in his Evangelion. The most distinctive feature seemed to be the glowing green lines pulsing along its entire body, brightening the joints and erasing shadows like a verdant heartbeat. His own heart skipped a beat, and the VIP chose this moment to declare her position to the world.

"I am the pilot of Unit 06, Ran Tsubaki!"

* * *

><p>This took a while to write, and the advice I wrote to myself at the top was more applicable than you'd think. Besides that, I'm really having fun writing the interactions between Oliver and his classmates. He seems like someone I met this one time in high school, amplified to the Nth degree. But hey, why don't you tell me about it in a review?<p>

Please, I don't have any at the time of this writing. Make me one, right now.

Please I need attention.

Pretty please?

Also, I need suggestions for a better name/description. Maybe that's why people aren't reading this as much as I'd like.


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